WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON OVER HERE?!
Grab (the drink of your choice) and get comfortable… This is a long one! It’s been a while since we’ve done an update here and there’s a lot happening. So here goes….
YOUTUBE – If you weren’t aware, a few weeks ago we started a YouTube channel. We have hundreds of 8mm and 16mm pin-up/burlesque films and other interesting things like apartment wrestling and even a collection of “regular” films like old cartoons, etc. We wanted an outlet to be able to present these films and show quick examples of the “before & after” the restoration. We realized that many channels offering similar content are mostly of very poor quality and pulling clips from other poor sources. Everything we do comes from our own high-definition transfers of actual films in our collection. We put in the effort to try to give you the very best we can, so please subscribe to the channel and spread the word! New films will be available every week for the remainder of the year and bi-weekly releases going forward. We do this strictly for the fun of it.
BLU-RAY RELEASES – We’ve been getting a LOT of inquiries about our plans for physical releases… and they are coming. Currently, our plan is to hopefully release 4 Blu-ray loop collections in 2025 from Leslie Winston, Serena, Sue Nero and Rhonda Jo Petty, all with their involvement and support. These will all include special features and surprises which will be revealed later. There is an incredible amount of work that goes into these (100s of hours of work) and we want them to be the best that we can possibly make them. We do have plans for more releases beyond those, but in all truth, it all depends on how much support we receive for these releases. The more support we get, the more we can do. There are no plans to make the content on our physical releases available on any streaming platforms. And speaking of….
STREAMING – New films have been made available sporadically but we hope to be able to have more of a regular release schedule. What that is, who knows? But you can expect new films coming out a couple times a month. It also takes us a little bit of additional time as we create new artwork for every film. If you haven’t yet checked out our streaming options, please do!
ULTRA FLESH ARCHIVES MAGAZINE – Issue #1 is available now (and downloadable!) so check it out. Unfortunately, earlier this year we had a hard drive failure and even worse, a back-up that was corrupted. The data recovery business operates similar to a kidnapper demanding a ransom and it just wasn’t worth the cost or efforts. We shrugged it off as best we could and took additional measures to be sure it didn’t happen again. Thankfully, we only lost about 20% of the files on that drive so it wasn’t catastrophic although the magazine files were part of the loss. Issue #2 was about 90% complete but we had to start over with everything from scratch, which is a lot of work. The plan is to hopefully be able to release them quarterly beginning in January 2025. Watch out for our upcoming Ultra Flesh Girls too, Sally Franklin (issue #2) and Beatrix Temperley (issue #3)! Along with regular issues of UFA magazine, we will expand our online magazine collection as well with a new retro magazine scan every month.
SOCIAL MEDIA / MAILING LISTS – Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts (multiple posts every week) to stay up to date on our activities and join in on the fun.
If you can, please follow them all! Joining our emailing list is also a good idea. We don’t send out many emails but when we do it’s for a good reason.
OUR STORE – Thanks to everyone who has been ordering from the store. We know stock has become low on available items and there’s several hundred magazines here that we hope to get up there soon. It all just takes a lot of time (which is spread razor thin.) so please be patient. This is where being a part of our emailing list helps, as that’s the first place we will make it known that the store has been updated. Don’t forget about the incredible selection of original and mostly uncirculated adult film posters we offer. Most of these are in amazing condition and would look great framed in your home!
THE ARCHIVE – Just maintaining this alone takes a massive amount of time, money and effort. Now with a magazine collection of over 7,000 issues, hundreds and hundreds of posters, and our film collection about to exceed 6,000 individual titles in just a couple of weeks (8mm, Super 8mm, and 16mm films – along with well over 1,000 duplicate films that need to be sorted through), it’s simply overwhelming on its own. We continue to acquire large amounts of items on a regular basis which requires cataloging, organizing (including providing every item with a documented location), storing, etc., takes up a can be exhausting. Everything here is in a constant state of movement as the collection as a whole evolves on a daily basis. Maintaining spreadsheets, photographing/scanning items, trying to identify a seemingly endless number of unknown films, research, etc. are tackled in some way nearly every day. Scanning films takes a lot of time as well: Inspecting (including multiple copies/versions), repairing, hand cleaning, frame-by-frame capture, digital clean up, color correction, scanning box covers, etc. etc. makes for several hours of work to complete just one 8-to-10-minute 8mm / Super 8mm film. While it might seem that things move slowly around here, work is being done on a near 24 hours a day basis with computers restoring and rendering films even throughout the night!
And if all of that wasn’t enough… We have a biography on a major golden age star to complete in 2025 as well! The mind spins with how much needs to be accomplished next year! We must be crazy…
SOME FUN STUFF! While I prefer to remain secluded in my little world here, I sometimes actually venture outside. At the end of July, Sue Nero was traveling through San Francisco, providing a chance for us to see each other again. We met at her hotel to chat for a bit while she signed magazines and loop boxes from the collection before we ventured out for some sightseeing. We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, stopped at Haight-Ashbury, drove past a couple locations where films she appeared in had been shot and even visited the exterior of the first apartment she lived at in the area from back in the late 1970s. I wanted a quick “sightseeing” of my own, so we drove to the location that used to be Alex deRenzy’s theater (now a bondage club) to get a couple photos. It’s amazing that there is a historical marker on the sidewalk out front honoring a porno theater. As I took photos, there was a man next to me huddled up on the sidewalk smoking crack. It’s unfortunate this is what many parts of the San Francisco area have become.
Next, we headed over to Annie Sprinkle’s home for a visit. Annie graciously signed some items I had and gave us a tour of her home. Looking through her own personal archives, Annie pulled out slides from the first photo shoot she had done as a photographer in the mid-1980s. Coincidentally, Sue Nero was her model and they enjoyed looking at them, reminiscing about the shoot. With Annie’s dog, Butch, we walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner before going our separate ways.
At the beginning of September, we had a visit from none other than Lisa Cintrice (and her boyfriend, Martin). We shared some pizza and conversation, talked about life, porn history and their work compiling information for a future book on her life. Lisa was also ready to have some fun and we took the first… let’s say… “saucy” photos she has done in decades! She took photos holding one of her covers in our magazine archive, holding one of her loops in a section of our film collection and even posed in front of a poster for THE WIDESPREAD SCANDALS OF LYDIA LACE (which she appears in) that hangs on our wall. It was a fun evening.
We also made a visit recently to the home of our favorite photographer, Paul Johnson, who’s looking to find a home for his life’s work, which we are hoping to help him with. More to come on that… If you are not familiar with Paul and his work, visit his website immediately!
If you made it this far, thanks. Hopefully, I didn’t forget anything. Your support of Ultra Flesh Archives is deeply appreciated! Spread the word! This is about as “grass roots” as it can get. Fan support is all we have and don’t forget to “Take Pride in Your Porn”!
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